Hop-drier



(No Medel.) y 3 'sh e sh r W. L. Lm;GISIMMI.l ee s eet l HOP DRIBR.

10.418,730. Petented Jen. 7, 1890.

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(No Modl.) s sheetsfsheet 2.

W. L. LEECHMAN.

HOP DRIBR.

- 1510.418330. Patented Jan. 7,1890.

iii

WITNBSSBS: INVENTOR:

i. BY

yUNITED!v STATES .WILLIAM LINDLEY LEECI-IMAN,

PATENT @trici-3.

OF SLAUGHTER, WASHINGTON.

HOP-DRIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent `No. 418,730, dated January 7, 1890.

Application led November 10, 1888. Serial No. 290,418. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it' known .that I, WILLIAM LINDLEY LEECI-IMAN, residing at Slaughter, in the county of King, Vashington Territory, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hop-Driers, of which the following is a speication.

The present manner of dryinghops consists,

generally, `in laying the green hops upon cloth supported by a platform consisting of narrow slats laid close together, said platform being xed Within the kiln above the heating devices, These kilns are generally square in plan and very high, and are now usually built at a distance from the storagebarns to avoid the danger of setting said storage-barns on rire and destroying the crop. In the present manner of drying the hops they are, after having been properly cured, re-

moved by hand fromthe kiln to the storerooin, requiring several trips by the attendant before the contents of one fioor are conveyed to said store-room. 'Thismethod of conveying the dried hops. is very objectionable, because -in handling hops by scooping i evaporates to such an extent that the `tiny y globules are bursted. l Another great objection to this manner of curing the hops is the great waste of time and labor necessary to accomplish the desired ends.

The object of my invention is to avoid all of the said objectionable features of drying hops, and at ythe same time produce a device which will be cheap in construction, effective in operation, and easy to manipulate.

To this end my invention'consists, essentially, in a portable drying platform or chamber, which can be readily slid into place in the'drying-kiln and quickly conveyed from said kiln vwith the" cured hops, in a mechanical manner; and it further consists in the peculiar arrangement and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described in the annexedspecication, and particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which--v Figure l is a perspective view illustrating inches apart. Y covered by a coarse wire-mesh c and a cloth section on line 4 4, Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a detail View of one of the levers.

Referring by letters to the drawings, A indicates the drying-kiln, `B the heating deeviceswithin said kiln, and C the portable drying-box or hop-Hoor.

D denotes apermanent track, which is connected with the kiln above the heating-chamber and extends across the same, as at d d. This track D is intended to be connected with the store-house in any suitable manner, Vand may be so arranged with suitable 1nframe adjacent to the kiln, which forms ais moved into 'or withdrawn from the kiln.

p F F are rails secured to the sides of the kiln and serving to support the weight of the hopl oor C when the same is pushed into the kiln.

The hop-iioor C, which is shown in detail in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, consists of a box-like frame formed of two sections C C2, each section consisting of a rectangular frame consisting of the slat door c, which is formed of narrow slats arranged on edge and usually about four The top of the slat floor c is cover c2, 'which is placed. above the wire-mesh The two sections are connected together by the connecting-pieces P P.`

P denotes a cloth which covers the intervening space p between the sections, and P2 side spaces support for an attendant when said hop-floor Y back laterally when it is desired to empty the IOO one in each of the outer edges of the sections C C, and have their outer ends Z project through the side pieces and extend into the connecting-pieces P, which pieces forni bearings for the said shafts L. Arranged near each end of the shafts L, inside the side bars of the sections, are short vertical standards M, which have each journaled at their lower ends a pair of rollers which fit the flanged track D, and serve to readily carry the hop-Hoor along on said track. The upper ends of the standards M are formed with rack portions N N, which engage with pinion-wheels O O upon the shafts L.

One end L of each of the shafts L is provided with a ratchet-wheel L2, which is engaged by a spring-pawl O', pivoted in one of the connecting-pieces P. The ends L of t-he shafts L are provided with short studs L3, which form a fulcrum for the operating-lever R, the construction of which is shown in det-ail in Fig. 5, and consists in a stout bar R', provided at its outer end with a hook r, which is adapted to engage with a staple T upon the front edge of each of the sections when it is desired to withdraw the portable hop-floor from the kiln. It is also provided with cutaway portion r', the outer face of which is provided with a slot r2. lhen it is desired to operate upon the ratchet-wheel L2, the slotted end of the lever is slid over one of the studs L3, and the reduced portion r fitted over said wheel, the inner edge r3 of said portion engaging with the ratchet-teeth and acting as a pawl to turn said wheel, as will be clearly understood from the drawings.

The operation of my improvement is as follows: The two sections being arranged in the same horizontal plane, the hinged sections of the rim or ledge being closed, the green hops are placed upon the cloth-covered bottom. The portable iioor is then slid along the track through an openingX in one side of the kiln, which openin g corresponds to the size of the heightof the iioor and casing. The portable floor then remains in the kiln until the hops are properly cured. The attendant then inserts the hooks r of the levers into the staples T and withdraws the Hoor, with the hops, and sends it along the track to the store-room. The levers are t-hen applied to the ratchet-wheels, which causes the shafts L to turn and raise the ends of the two sections by means of the pinion-wheel and rackbar N, and thereby causes the hops to fall toward the center of the floor. The hinged sections are then opened and the cured hops are dumped out or gently brushed through the openings in the rim or ledge.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, the advantages of my invention will be readily understood.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

l. In a portable floor, the combination of the sections C C2, connected by the pieces P P and supporting a screen or sieve, horizontal shafts running through each of said sections and carrying pinion-wheels mounted thereon within the sections, andvertical rackbars engaging with the said pinion-wheels and supporting the floor and whereby the sides of the sections are raised or lowered, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a portable Hoor, the combination of the adjacent sections C C2, consisting of the cross-slats c c, wire-mesh c', and cloth cover c2, placed above the wire-mesh, the connecting-piece P, the cloth cover P', and the metal plates P2, the parallel horizontal shafts L L, passing through the sections, each shaft carrying a pinion wheel O, and the vertical standards- M, carrying rollers at their lower ends and rack-bars N at their upper ends, adapted to engage the pinion-wheels, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a hop-drier, the portable floor C, consisting of two sections C C2, each section formed of a rectangular frame having an open slat bottom, a screen covering the top of said bottom, and a rim G, disposed upon the upper edges of said sections C C2, said rims provided With hinged portions J J, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, with the kiln A and the track D connected therewith, of the portable hop-floor, said iioor consisting of the sections C C2, said sections being arranged adjacent to each other, the tops of said sections provided with a screen covering forming the bottom of a trough or receptacle, a rim G, disposed on the upper edges of the sections, said rim forming the sides and ends of the trough, said rim provided with hinged sections J J, each section provided with a longitudinal shaft L, mounted in one end thereof, each provided with a pinion-Wheel O, the outer ends of said shafts journaled in connecting-pieces P, one end of each of said shafts provided with ratchet-wheels for turning said shafts, and the standards M, having guiderollers journaled in the lower ends thereof, the upper ends of said standards guided in the frames of the sections and provided with a rack portion N, engaging the pinion-Wheels O, whereby the sides of the sections may be elevated, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I ax my signature in presence of two witnesses.

IVM. LINDLEY LEECI-IMAN.

Witnesses:

J oHN MARTIN, EDWIN L. PILLMAN.

IOO

IIO 

